Improvements Made to our Blog:

Our blog has found a new home at Tumblr and now functions as an aggregator, linking to and publishing interesting articles from the osCommerce team and our partners.

New publications are automatically syndicated to our Twitter account and Facebook Page.

Our blog can be reached at:

http://blogs.oscommerce.com

OSCOM v2.3 Pre-Release Notes:

We stated earlier that the next osCommerce Online Merchant releases would be v2.2 and v3.0 and that we wouldn’t be publishing any more alpha, beta, or release candidate labelled versions. The next v2.2 release was declared as “v2.2final” to finalize the versioning cycle it went through, from…

Our friend Rudy recently learned first-hand why it’s always best to use a current, opt-in list for email marketing. Think you might need a refresher? Is My List Ok to Use in MailChimp? How To Grow Your Email List in 3 Easy Steps When Email Addresses Go Stale Warning Signs That Your Client is Spamming – Free Guide

When we launch MailChimp v5.3 in a few weeks, you'll notice some subtle changes to our UI.

Last week we had flashbacks to a more surreal, strangely delightful version of our childhoods when we found this adorable campaign from Gigi’s Studio. A beautiful custom header, a clean display of prints available on her Etsy store page, and the best part? Gigi Moore hardly had to lift a finger. Using our new AutoConnect template for Etsy, [...]

A few weeks ago, Facebook announced that as of August 23rd (yesterday) they would be shrinking the width of custom Page tabs from 760px down to 520px. They provided a preview of the changes to Page admins, and many of you contacted us to inquire how the MailChimp signup app would handle the shift. We’re happy [...]

With SXSW 2010 still fresh in our memory, you wouldn't believe that it's time to vote for panels at what should be a bigger and brighter SXSW Interactive 2011. Our team have been given the official nod on three very exciting proposals, so now we need your support.

Each year, thousands of diverse ideas get submitted to the SXSW team. After the votes roll in, this selection of panels and presentations gets whittled down to a considerably smaller, sharper unit. While the panel team have the majority say over who sinks and who swims, your vote will keep us afloat!

If you're planning to go to SXSW Interactive next year and would like to see the following topics covered, please take the time to vote them in. You should also vote if you think Mat is an intensely handsome and articulate fellow, because it would be a vote for the truth.

Get in quick! Voting is open now, until 11:59 CDT on Friday, August 27.

Getting to the Meat of Spam

Why do spammers send those emails with random passages of text? How does spam actually work? What is spam, and what isn't? In this panel, Mathew Patterson, the author of "Create Stunning HTML Email That Just Works!" and head of customer support will dig below the surface and explore some of the research that is being done into what spam actually is, why people spam, and what happens next.

Vote for this panel if you want to know:

1. What counts as spam? Am I a spammer?
2. Does spam actually work (financially or otherwise)
3. What's the most effective defense against spam

Customer Service for Web Apps: Bringing the Wow

Great design and development is not enough to create a great customer experience. In this panel featuring Mat Patterson and Sarah Hatter from 37signals, find out how small support teams can make a huge impact on thousands of customers through simple tools and techniques and learn from people who've done it personally.

Vote for this panel if you want to know:

1. How to create a customer support experience that promotes your web app, instead of sinking it.
2. Why setting expectations makes customers happy
3. How to apologize when your company f*cks up

Email Masterchef: The Ingredients in a Winning Campaign

Every designer reckons they know how to create and send an HTML email newsletter. It's just like coding for the Web, right? In this panel featuring Ros Hodgekiss, our community manager, alongside a seasoned crew of email designers and marketers, we'll outline the tools, skills and strategies that go into a successful email campaign.

Vote for this panel if you want to know:

1. How to make my design look great across most email clients
2. How I can optimize my campaign results
3. What the future holds for email design

Thank you folks, we really appreciate your votes in the name of good taste and email. It would be a pleasure to meet more of you in Austin next year, so keep your fingers crossed and stay tuned for more SXSW 2011 announcements on this blog.

While sifting through campaigns the other day, the interesting color scheme of this email newsletter from Savvy.je caught my eye. The combination of teal and maroon is not something you see everyday and really makes this email stand out from the rest.

The application of these colors is not used sparingly, but that really works well for the design. The news items are boxed out by solid columns of alternating colors, making each news snippet clear and easy to read. Additionally, the columns come close to covering the entire height of the campaign itself, which gives the campaign a very solid, rigid look.